Seaside Oyster Bar - Suwanee — Restaurant in Suwanee

A friend of mine and I went to this restaurant last night. When we arrived, there were no people waiting. We proceeded to the hostess station and asked for a table for 2. We were told it would be about 20 minutes, which was understandable. The place was comfortably full. I said, “let’s just go to the bar since there are a few open seats”. We did. We sat down and waited. There were 4 people behind the bar and they looked quite busy so we both assumed it would be a few minutes until they could get caught up—no big deal. However, at no point did anyone look up and say, “we’ll be with you in a moment” or anything to that effect. After we’d been sitting there about 10-15 minutes, a lady came in and sat next to me. I leaned over and said “we’ve been here for quite a while and they’ve never even looked at us, so good luck”. She had on an orange sundress & was by herself. I decided to get up and go check to see whether or not there was any chance to get a table because I figured we would probably get better service there and at this point, what could it hurt to at least ask. Maybe they would at least speak to me? I left my friend at the bar and told her that if anyone happened to ask her what we wanted while I was gone to order me a drink and off I went. I walked over to the hostess stand and asked for a table. They said “we just have to clean one off for you, give us 2 minutes”. I texted my friend “come over here”. Then I looked in her direction to see if she got my text and would be headed over. When I looked over at her, I noticed that the lady in orange had a glass of wine in her hand. How did she get served?? While waiting on the table, a group of 3 people walked in and were seated. I noted this as well. I asked the hostess for the manager. He did not come. Then, I asked my waiter for the manager. About 20 minutes later, the manager starts walking towards us. Finally, I can air my frustrations about being repeatedly ignored. He walks in our general vicinity and starts pressing a remote control for the TV’s. He does this for a very long time. Finally I say quite loudly, “are you the manager of this restaurant?” He says, yes. I told him about all the issues. While I’m talking, He continuously interrupts me and starts telling me all his problems. I got so fed up with him that I said, fine…do you want me to walk you over to the bar and the lady with the orange dress and tell you about our conversation? He said yes! How embarrassing for him…I would never in a million years let a customer take me on a “show and tell” of all the people in my store that had wronged them. But that’s what he asked for so that’s what we did. After all of that, he continues to argue with me to the point that I said, “just go away and leave me alone”, which he didn’t do. So, I finally said “look, I guess I’m going to have to tell you what is expected in a situation like this. You are supposed to say—I am sorry!!!” Good grief!! At this point, my food is cold and I don’t care anymore. Then, after all of this going back and forth I ask him “who is the owner of this restaurant” and he said “I am”. I looked it up and the person who was speaking to me looks nothing like the person in the Gwinnett Daily Post article recognizing the owner Hector Abreu as the owner of SOB. Surprisingly after all of THIS, he sends over the “assistant manager” who also argues with me about how long I sat at the bar. Do you people have video? If you do, look at it. I sat there 15-20 minutes. Some people at a table for 8 across from us came over to sympathize and said that they were also going to go complain because all of them had eaten and her daughter still didn’t have her food and it had been over an hour. I told her GOOD LUCK. I am 52 years old and I have never experienced anything like this from management. They usually apologize and offer to remake your food or give you a dessert or something. They eventually gave us all ours for free but it didn’t matter. I was too angry to even eat anymore. Terrible management!!!! On a positive note, our waiter...

This is a beautiful new location that just opened. There is a large covered outdoor patio with fires that opens into the restaurant with garage doors. Dogs are allowed on patio. There was no sign saying that you entered through the patio, so we were a little confused and went up the sidewalk and entered there, which was the restaurant's backside. Tria saw us come in the wrong door and was very friendly and walked us up to the front, and showed us the restaurant's features. The Inside of the restaurant has enormous booths for big parties and is beautifully decorated; The tables are a little bit closer to one another than I would like. Our server, Karla was excellent and very attentive. My husband’s old-fashioned drink was excellent and a heavy pour. Unfortunately the drink I ordered (Son of a beach punch) was very weak and small with tons of ice. I asked for The same drink but with regular rum instead of coconut rum to make it stronger, but I pretty much got the same drink again. I drank it because I did not want to complain again. However, I felt like I just drank punch for $22. Cruzan rum is a very cheap liquor so I don't think the price ($11) is justified for such a small drink with a low proof rum. We talked to the bar manager who claims it's an 80 proof rum although the menu says cruzan coconut rum which is only 42 proof. He said They do a 2 ounce pour, but we both tried it and agreed there was only one shot. So essentially, I’m charged more than what it cost to buy an entire bottle of Cruzan coconut rum. He asked to see our bill but did not do anything to it and made a comment “we don’t have our wheel barrows yet to wheel people out”. I know he was joking but that sounds as if our goal is to get drunk other than enjoy our drink. We had to send our calamari back because it was so salty although it was very tender and would of been great. We only ordered two oysters to try them, but they came out quite a while after the calamari, and we were cold when they arrived. We think they forgot to bring them out. The chitty chitty shrimp was delicious. The hush puppers are good but only get 6 of them for $7. I’d expect 9-12 of them. All sauces were super small but Karla was excellent and offered to bring us more without us even asking. The key lime pie had zero lime flavor. Miguel, the manager, came over and spoke with us. He welcomed our feedback. He told us to talk to him next time we come back to get better drinks. I'd come back here to try other seafood or enjoy the patio but I’d be skeptical about ordering coconut rum drinks or dessert. I understand this was only their second night open but I hope they take these suggestions to heart because it’s very close to us and we’d love to make it a...

My family and I will never return here due to service and actions of staff as well as food quality. There were 5 adults and a small child for a mid week lunch. The restaurant was not busy which should have been a clue as we expected them to be busy based on reviews. The lobster bisque had no lobster, you could pay extra if you wanted it added? Two in our party had the salmon which everyone sampled and we all found it dry. The chicken added to my salad was thin and dry. The fruit that accompanied the child's plate did not taste fresh. The waitress Carolina, had to be reminded to bring the up-charged cucumber salads to accompany the salmon dishes. She also neglected to mention the price of the daily special, paella, which was $40 and wasn't worth the price. The menu states at the bottom that parties of 6 or more will have a 20% gratuity added, which I expected, though as a prior restaurant owner I do not support this policy/trend. Tips are earned through excellent service. One of our party had to leave prior to the completion of the meal due to slow service from the kitchen. When Carolina delivered the bill, she had not charged the 20% tip, no explanation? Well, I was prepared to leave a 10% tip as our overall experience was average at best and based on pricing we were underwhelmed. I left a 15% tip, which I felt was generous based on service. We were exiting the restaurant, still in the dining area with other patrons in close proximity when Carolina stopped me, stating, full voiced, "sir, was there something wrong with the service that you did not leave a 20% tip". I was shocked to say the least. She then said I needed to explain to the manager why I did not tip 20% and called the manager over. As I was caught off guard and embarrassed by her actions, the only thing that came to mind at that moment were the forgotten side salads. The manager simply stood there and really said nothing. I then said to both of them "I can promise you now that I will never return here after this treatment". This was all said in hearing of other guests, who were still dining, I've never been treated this way at any other restaurant in my life. To top this all off, I later learned when my wife and her sister used the restroom, the bus girl came in wearing gloves, used the restroom and then left without washing her hands and went right back to her station. They followed her out, she then proceeded to clean a table with the same gloves she had worn going into the the bathroom. Needless to say, we will not...